couple tips for those setups. first off, figure out a way to chill your reservoir. this will help you avoid a ton of porblems like algae and slim buildup. freeze a couple 2L bottlet of water. ones that don't have glue on them or anything. then just stick 1 or 2 in your reservoir every day or two. play with it to see what works. ideally you want the temps around 62-66. don't got below 62 if you can help it. stick an airstone or 2 in the reservoir as well.
those systems are notorious for not draining all the way. you get water in the tubing, water sitting in the bottom of the grow buckets, water sitting in the control bucket, etc... since all that stuff is black that water get's real hot and algae and slime will start to form. plus when it is pumped to your plants it will shock the roots. especially when they are bigger and the roots are sitting in the bottom of the bucket and in that water. there are some tricks you can do to prevent it. try sticking the grow sights ontop of some 1"-2" planks. when you raise the grow buckets they tend to drain a little better. tilting the grow buckets to the side of the drain just slightly also help a lot.
i'd also look into an enzyme product like aquashield by botanicare, sensizym by advanced, or hygrozyme. looks like you're using mostly advanced so go with sensizyme. this will help a lot in keeping your reservoir clean. change your reservoir once a week. just use a cheap submersible $20 pump and some hose to drain it to a bathroom or sink. these systems are real tempermental and changing the reservoir every week will help avoid some of these problems. then after every harvest pull all the hoses and stuff and flush it all out with a garden hose or in the sink. maybe let it soak in a light bleach solution for a few hours. then flush it all out. make sure you get the insides of the hoses well.
i don't know your experience with advanced but just go light with those nutes the first run. you can always bump it up on the 2nd go round. they are very potent. you should have a ppm and pH meter. you'll need to monitor them both daily. your ph will need to be adjusted often. your ppm really shouldn't change if you are feeding them right. plus changing the res every week will allow you to change your formula every week and give them fresh nutes and water.
good luck bro. let me know if you need anything.
I really cant wait to see the results if everything goes as planned ill extend my project to 6 light or more in my new house. Let me know what you guys think of this setup. The total cost me alot and hope that this will be worth my while dont forget that ill be putting more plants on the side in soil. Ill keep you guys posted with more picture.
